A Cry for New Camera Angles in Tennis
Who do I talk to about getting court level camera angles for tennis on TC? Is there a number I can dial? Do I just send a cold email to the ATP or WTA? A LinkedIn message? Maybe a DM? I I’ll slide in WHEREVER to make this happen. Somebody just point me in the right direction. I feel like this issue comes up throughout the year randomly on tennis social media. I know I’ve seen current and former pros call for this change, or at least call for a trial run. Well, I am neither a current a former pro, but I will gladly re-up this issue, filling the role of former below average college tennis player who still probably consumes too much tennis content.
I have asked too many questions already, but let me ask another—is there anyone out there that actually disagrees with the claim that we need court level angles for TV? I can’t imagine so. Nevertheless, in order to do right and pay homage to my 7th grade English teacher, I will address the potential counter arguments because, according to her, silence on opposing viewpoints when asserting a position leaves one vulnerable to the critique that he has not fully explored the space of an issue with enough depth and thus less credible.
The Case Against Court Level Views
Here is my attempt to indulge my middle school teachings. Some might say that, with the court level view, the depth perception changes so you don’t have a clear and total picture of where the ball lands and where the player is positioned. Additionally, there are those that may be concerned that you don’t have as good a view of what the far side player looks like as he/she hits the ball. Finally, TV viewers may lose that balanced look where no one player appears to dominate the viewers’ experience and you can see the totality of the court of play.
I’m sure I’m missing other issues, probably incredibly obvious issues. But I’m not going to lie to you… as I’m writing this, each time I press a key, I think less and less of these critiques I am pretending to entertain. You do actually do still have a more than acceptable view of the far-side player, both in terms of positioning and in terms of what they look like. Like we get in other sports, I understand the value and desire to see the entire totality of play in a single, static (or somewhat static), but it’s not as if that completely vanishes when you go court level. There is enough balance, the optics are good, and the trade-off (insofar as we would actually be giving anything up at all) for what you gain by getting cameras at this angle is WELL WORTH IT. Tennis is one of the few sports in which providing fans with a similar viewpoint of the player actually makes a ton of sense. (Sorry to my middle school teachers; I didn’t do a great job of genuinely entertaining potential criticisms and counterarguments – didn’t even make it a paragraph.)
Court Level is Just Better
If you’re like me, you are always on the lookout, if not actively searching, for court-level tennis – even a practice session. If you’re like me, you send a practice session between Norrie and Sinner at Indian Wells in a thread to your friends Winston and Jack, and Winston replies “Dude, how many of these have you watched” and you refuse to answer because it’s probably something you don’t want to admit (even though you know they already know it’s an obscene amount). Indian Wells just finished and YouTube is LITTERED with court level points and practices. If you’re not already on my side, go watch those. The tempo and intensity with those lower vantage points are jarring . . . in the best way. You can feel the speed and shape of ball, as well as the stress that the players are constantly under in ways our standard viewing simply cannot capture. The court-level view reveals the true nature of what it feels like to be out there. And in case you forgot – it’s often brutal, terrifying, overwhelming, and nothing is every as easy or as slow as it seems (it’s a great sport! Yay!). If you have a friend or family member that even suggests that tennis is a little slow or perhaps hints that tennis lacks athleticism, just show them court level tennis of anyone on tour. If that doesn’t change their mind, you may want to consider finding a new friend.
I’m sure that the practical and physical ability to incorporate these angles varies from tournament to tournament depending on a variety of factors, not the least of which may be the correct cameras and the actual physical infrastructure of the courts themselves at each tournament. In all seriousness though, there should be a real concerted push to at least try this. But hey, at the end of the day, I’m just a guy at home crawling the ends of the internet in search of court level videos of guys like Kyrgios and Opelka serving or the likes of Alcaraz, Djokovic, Medvedev (or anyone really) playing points from the back so that I can text those videos to my friends and ask, “What the hell is this?” I’m not an engineer, scientist, technician, or any other person that in anyway knows what it would take to affect the changes I seek, nor am I in a position of power at the tour or tournament level to push for these changes.
So, I ask again – who do I have to call?
